Top 7 Best Free MP4 Splitters for Windows, Mac, and Online [2025]

• The editors that stood out most were Movavi Video Editor, OpenShot, Lightworks, and iMovie. Each one feels different, and that’s part of their charm.
• Movavi makes editing easy without cutting corners. OpenShot is free and steady once you get used to it. Lightworks gives you sharp control, and iMovie keeps things simple for anyone on a Mac or iPhone.
• Every program gives you something and takes something else. You might get speed but lose detail, or power but less comfort. What matters is how you like to work.
• For smoother results, start with short clips, test your cuts, and make sure the preview looks right before saving.

A few days into testing MP4 splitters, my desktop looked like a graveyard of half-cut videos and frozen screens. Some programs refused to finish a job, others deleted the sound entirely, and a few actually pulled through. I spent hours trying to split MP4 into parts, save clips into multiple files, and find a video maker that didn’t turn every edit into a guessing game. After too much coffee and too little patience, I ended up with the ones that truly work. Here’s what made it through.

Best overall: Movavi Video Editor
Smooth, stable, and easy to use. Movavi Video Editor doesn’t slow down, even with long clips, and lets you split videos into multiple files without losing quality.

Best free option: OpenShot
Free and dependable. OpenShot handles basic trimming well and works on any system without much setup.

Best for professionals: Lightworks
A bit of a learning curve, but worth it. Lightworks offers sharp controls and reliable playback for precise editing.

Best for beginners: iMovie
Clean and friendly. iMovie makes splitting clips quick and stress-free, especially on Mac, iPhone, or iPad.

Best online tool: Clideo
Fast and convenient. You upload, cut, and save right in the browser – ideal for short edits on the go.

Why I picked it: fast, easy to use, and delivers clean results with quick MP4 splitting.

Movavi Video Editor features an easy-to-use yet powerful MP4 split software that you can use to split a video in a few clicks. The MP4 splitter lets Windows and macOS users easily separate a video file into two or more sections and save them independently.

On top of the reasons why Movavi Video Editor is a popular tool to split MP4 video is its straightforward interface. The sleek, simple interface and video timeline make it easy for both amateurs and professionals to use. The editor also offers many other MP4 video editing features, including rotate, crop, filters, and even combining video fragments. I found the timeline especially intuitive and it seemed great for quickly clipping out unwanted parts of a clip.

In the latest update, Movavi Video Editor added automatic silence removal for faster trimming and splitting. It also introduced new subtitle styles, instant English translation for captions, and ultra-fast playback up to 100x speed, making video editing and splitting even more efficient.

Why I picked it: free, simple, and runs smoothly on any system for basic MP4 editing.

OpenShot is a cross-platform video editor that you can use to quickly and easily split an MP4 file into two or more parts. The software features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface to add MP4 files to split and is designed for both hobbyist users and small projects. I liked how intuitive the system felt when cutting clips and arranging them on the timeline.

Like most other video editors today, OpenShot offers several essential video editing tools aside from the MP4 splitter. Whether you need to trim and resize a video or just want to separate parts, the editor performs well for basic tasks, although large projects can sometimes slow it down. Overall, OpenShot's MP4 video splitting performance is good, but some video editing features of the app may not always work as expected.

Why I picked it: lightweight and efficient, great for quick MP4 trimming even on older PCs.

Avidemux is an open-source video editing software that competes with some of the market's priciest tools.Its MP4-split free tool is just one in an arsenal of tens of video editing features. It is an ideal MP4 splitter for beginners and casual users looking for software that is easy to learn and fast to use. I liked that the program opened and processed video files quickly, even on an older computer.

As open-source software, Avidemux strives to make it easy for users to learn and use its features. If you are a beginner in editing video content with limited computing power, this software can be helpful because it uses relatively few system resources. Some of the top features it offers aside from MP4 splitting are cut, flip, rotate, and color filtering.

Why I picked it: professional feel, precise trimming, and strong format compatibility.

Lightworks has been in the video editing software business for over 25 years, and the developers know a thing or two about what makes an effective MP4 splitter. Their desktop editor with cloud integrations offers unique functionalities that make splitting a video into sections easy and fast. I liked how smooth the playback felt while cutting and previewing clips on the timeline.

The drag-and-drop method of video clip selection makes Lightworks one of the best free MP4 splitter options out there. The video editing suite also offers plenty of additional tools users may find useful, including color correction, FX plugins, and options to export split MP4 clips to different formats.

In the latest update (beta version 2025.2) Lightworks introduced a fully re-worked media processing engine for faster playback and improved export performance.

Why I picked it: simple layout, smooth editing, and effortless clip arrangement on Apple devices.

Apple markets iMovie as a simple personal tool that anyone with an iOS or macOS device can use to turn plain videos into engaging clips. iMovie is one of Apple's top software that has won accolades for being easy to use, hence popular. The only catch, however, is that you can only use it on an Apple device

iMovie offers seamless editing tools that ordinary users can use to create professional-looking videos quickly. Its MP4 splitter and joiner is a convenient feature that lets you separate sections of a video file into individual clips in just a few seconds. I liked how easily I could drag clips around and how smooth the playback felt while previewing edits.

Why I picked it: fast, stable, and packed with smart AI tools for clean, polished edits.

MAGIX Video Deluxe is a complete video editing program that mixes professional tools with simple controls for beginners. It is made for Windows and runs on the powerful INFUSION Engine 3, which makes playback smooth and exporting videos much faster, even in 8K quality. I liked how steady and quick the program was when I used it to split and trim MP4 files, even in large projects.

Besides splitting, it offers smart AI tools like speech-to-text subtitles, voice-over creation, and automatic color correction. You can also use creative filters, color grading, and ready-made templates to make your videos look professional.

In the latest version, MAGIX added AI clip tagging, improved subtitle generation, and faster timeline performance for trimming and splitting.

Why I picked it: browser-based, quick for short clips, and requires no installation.

Clideo MP4 Splitter is a simple online tool that lets you cut MP4 videos directly in your browser. It runs on any device and doesn’t need installation. You just open the site, upload a video, choose where it starts and ends, and save the result. Some file types may still be re-encoded depending on your settings.

Clideo offers clear controls that help users split clips fast and without confusion. Its interface feels clean and easy to understand, even for first-time users. I liked how quickly it processed short videos and how precise the trimming felt. Longer files, however, took more time to export and sometimes lost sync slightly between audio and video.

The real difference isn’t in the features. It’s in how each program makes you feel when you’re actually using it. Movavi Video Editor just works. You drop in a clip, make a few cuts, and everything feels smooth and natural. No guessing, no frustration.

OpenShot is a little rougher around the edges, but it’s free and honest about what it is. Once you get used to it, it handles simple edits better than you’d expect. Lightworks is the serious one. It takes a while to learn, but when it clicks, you see why professionals like it. Every cut feels precise.

Then there’s iMovie. It’s simple, clean, and does exactly what most people need. You can split, rearrange, and export a video before your coffee gets cold. In the end, it’s not about picking the “best” MP4 splitter. It’s about finding the one that makes editing feel easy.